Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom that existed from 1701 to 1918, with Berlin serving as its capital. The kingdom was created in 1701 after Frederick, Duke of Brandenburg-Prussia, was proclaimed "King in Prussia" within the Holy Roman Empire, and it included lands in Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Denmark, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. The kingdom was a great power from its inception, having inherited the strong military of Brandenburg-Prussia. Prussia soon became known as a military powerhouse in Europe; Napoleon once famously said that Prussia was "hatched from a cannonball". Prussia would achieve greatness under Frederick the Great, who won the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, plus several other conflicts during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Prussia, now the strongest of the German states, tried to unite the other states under its rule. In 1867, Prussia created the North German Confederation in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War, and the German states' victory over France in 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War led to a strong feeling of unity. This feeling led to the German Empire being proclaimed on 18 January 1871, and Prussia remained a part of the empire until 1918, when the empire and all of its constituent German states were abolished.